You Found Me

Chapter 2

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock.

6 o'clock

I yawned while stretching out my arms. I was about to get up when I touched something on my bed. When I looked at it, it was the latest volume of You Found Me.

Why is it here? Oh, maybe I fell asleep while reading it last night. Don't worry, I will finish reading you tonight.

I got up and went inside my bathroom. I undressed and went under the shower. I controlled the temperature so warm water would come out. I enjoyed my 20-minute shower, brushed my teeth, got dressed in my red sweatshirt and a shorts, and a pair of flat sandals. I walked outside my room feeling refreshed and at the same time famished.

"Morning, Mom," I kissed my mother on her cheek while she was busy preparing our breakfast.

"Go prepare the table, honey. This will be done in a second," my mother said.

We are the only ones living in this big house. My dad? He is a very busy man who's always traveling abroad because his company is always sending him for training and business meetings. My mom is running her own business, a coffee shop in the heart of Seoul. She told me it was never her intention to put up this business, but a life living alone in a big house bored her to death so she vented her boredom to baking cookies and giving them to her friends and neighbors.

Soon, words got out about these home-baked cookies and with the support of my dad, they put up my mom's small pastry shop which was only catering to-go orders. Years passed and her business was getting more and more orders, so she decided to expand it into a coffee shop so customers would have something to drink while waiting for their orders. Since then, patrons have been going to her shop.

"What time will you be closing tonight, Mom?" I asked her while pouring some orange drinks into my glass.

"I don't think I will be going to the store today, honey. The house help will be coming over today so I am going to stay at home," my mom said while putting two pancakes on my plate.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. They are scheduled to come today." Two helpers would come every Mondays and Fridays to clean the house, do the laundry, iron our clothes, and do anything that needs help with.

"Why? Are you going to stop by at the shop tonight?" My mom asked me.

"Nah, if you will not be there then I won't be coming over. I really don't like the new barista you hired last week," I told her while shoving a big portion of pancake in my mouth.

"Yeah? But he is a nice guy, and he is very good in what he is doing," my mother said.

"I am not questioning his work. It's just that, he keeps on looking at me and my friend's table whenever we hang out there. He gives me the creep," I shivered exaggeratingly to emphasize how creepy he is.

"Honey, it is never good to say bad things to someone you haven't even shared a single conversation with," my mom said in her warning tone.

"I know. It's just that... nevermind... I will go straight home when my classes are over." Then I finished my breakfast.

"Would you like me to drive you to school today?" my mom asked after a while.

"Mom, I'm already in college. No one in our University is being dropped by by their parents anymore," I told her after drinking my orange juice.

"I just thought this will be a good opportunity to have small talks and catch up with whatever is happening with your life. I know I have been busy with my shop and your dad is not always around, I do not want you to feel neglected by your parents," my mom told me.